It's certainly interesting to hear a first hand account like yours. Do you have an opinion on USA Hockey's American Development Model? It seems that USA Hockey has seen the issues you're talking about and is working to correct them.

For those who've been watching/following the NDTP, wondering about John Hayden. He's off to a very good start since coming back from his injury. Sounds like the kind of player every coach would want to have. What separates him and Fasching? Is it potential? And whereabouts would you rank him for the draft?

What are potential examples this year? Off the top of my head I can think of Matteau, Biggs, and Connor Murphy.

In regards to this year's WJC team, Riley Barber is another one in addition to the three mentioned. Alex Galchenyuk is somewhat of another as he was born in the States because of hockey's dad's pro hockey career. Henrik Samuelsson is another.

I believe that's it off the top of my head from this year's (potential) WJC team.

It's certainly interesting to hear a first hand account like yours. Do you have an opinion on USA Hockey's American Development Model? It seems that USA Hockey has seen the issues you're talking about and is working to correct them.

I think it is a step in the right direction for a lot of programs. I coach older players now so not too familiar with it besides what I read. Most good quality programs were driving cross ice and better utilization of ice for a long time so it probably didn't effect most of high quality programs a lot. I know of programs that implemented cross ice games and got rid of full ice hockey for mites quite a few years before ADM was implemented. USA Hockey pretty much looked at top programs around the world and implemented what they felt were the bright ideas from those programs. ADM is to get all of the laggards on the same page.
Good coaches know that a young hockey player needs to be in situations where the skills are amplified and multiplied. I know parents complain and want to see full ice hockey games for 7 year olds but if they only took the time to study those games and compare to cross ice games, they would see how many more things happen during a cross ice game. During a full ice mite game, the time it takes a kid to push the puck ahead from the defensive face off circle down to the other end of the ice, a cross ice game could have had, during that same time frame 2 shots on net,1 attempted pass, 3 dekes, 1 rebound control, 1 loose puck, 3 defensive decisions and a puck battle. (rather than one kid pushing a puck forward and everyone else trying to catch)
I think the important thing is to keep teaching the parents. Most parents would say that they want their kid to become the best player they can become and those parents need to know what the commitment level is to reach the higher levels of hockey. The amount of shots a player will take during even the best ran practice is not even close to adequate. Top players are taking hundreds of shots a day on their own to get to the elite level and I know some kids who are getting over 500 or more shots a day. And this is just one of the skills. The other skills are worked on just as religiously and consistently by the top players on their own. (Just one example is Galchenyuk. The ice time he practiced weekly on his own when he was with the Chicago Young Americans, was more ice than he got with his U16 team at CYA. That trend continued in Sarnia and I’m sure the trend was same before he came to CYA.) These are stories that parents need to know

The amount of shots a player will take during even the best ran practice is not even close to adequate. Top players are taking hundreds of shots a day on their own to get to the elite level and I know some kids who are getting over 500 or more shots a day. And this is just one of the skills. The other skills are worked on just as religiously and consistently by the top players on their own. (Just one example is Galchenyuk. The ice time he practiced weekly on his own when he was with the Chicago Young Americans, was more ice than he got with his U16 team at CYA. That trend continued in Sarnia and I’m sure the trend was same before he came to CYA.) These are stories that parents need to know

Lots of good points in your post.

In regards to your statements about Galchenyuk, I know a goalie from CYA who used to skate with Galchenyuk and just a couple other players on a full ice sheet for hours on end during the summer. Galchenyuk would get upset when the goalie would have to go home after playing for 3+ hours.

In regards to your statements about Galchenyuk, I know a goalie from CYA who used to skate with Galchenyuk and just a couple other players on a full ice sheet for hours on end during the summer. Galchenyuk would get upset when the goalie would have to go home after playing for 3+ hours.

If I may that used to be the way for us old timers lol. Every night playing shinny on the local outdoor rink for 3 or 4 hours. You learned how to skate and develop all of the individual skills.

he seems to be flying under the radar a bit, but our next great offensive player might be Blake Clarke from Brampton of the OHL. Kid has really done a great job as a rookie this year on a mediocre squad...Size definitely not a concern, and though he isnt a sniper, his two way game is extremely promising.

If I may that used to be the way for us old timers lol. Every night playing shinny on the local outdoor rink for 3 or 4 hours. You learned how to skate and develop all of the individual skills.

That's actually a point made by some opponents of the ADM. If cheap ice and equipment were regularly available to a larger portion of the population and kids were allowed to play as long as they wanted in unstructured pick up games it might very well lead to good things. I believe quite a few of the first great US players developed their games this way.

It's actually not too dissimilar from the way basketball has been learned for so long in the US and I'd say that of all the sports the US is known for our basketball players tend to be among our most creative and skilled athletes.

I'm assuming WHB removed him from the list on the front page given the uncertainty over his citizenship. If he's a dual-citizen the question might still be open but it seems there's a chance he only has Canadian citizenship.

I'm assuming WHB removed him from the list on the front page given the uncertainty over his citizenship. If he's a dual-citizen the question might still be open but it seems there's a chance he only has Canadian citizenship.

I'm assuming WHB removed him from the list on the front page given the uncertainty over his citizenship. If he's a dual-citizen the question might still be open but it seems there's a chance he only has Canadian citizenship.

Thanks for the link. Interesting that he said he had to go see some family from Toronto. Sounds like playing for Team Ontario is a possibility at the World U-17 Challenge down the road.

I'll start to update the opening posts with updated info, hyperlinks to the player's stats for the season, etc. here soon. If you see any errors, players that would be good additions, additional relevant info, etc. please let me know.

I enjoy the discussions/updates we get in here. Hopefully we can keep it going for round 2.

I'll start to update the opening posts with updated info, hyperlinks to the player's stats for the season, etc. here soon. If you see any errors, players that would be good additions, additional relevant info, etc. please let me know.

I enjoy the discussions/updates we get in here. Hopefully we can keep it going for round 2.

Ryan Edquist Bantam Major Goalie at Shattuck St. Mary's should be part of the 1998 birth year players. DOB 1/28/98 HT 5'10 WT 150 SH Left Undeclared 2016